Class
A class is a role assigned to a player of Sburb. It dictates their role in the game and their powers. It is one part of the player titles, the other being the aspect. There are twelve known normal classes and two "master" classes. Classes describe mechanics and intended roles, "channelling" the aspect into possible action and powers. They come in active (-) and passive (+) pairs, a vague concept with a lot of flexibility. Various definitions and guidelines of the pairings have been revealed from a simplistic "active means offensive, passive means defensive"; to more complex ones with the active classes employing or affecting their aspect directly and for their own gain, and the passive classes being affected by their aspect, and sharing their actions with the team. One definition is they are able to do something using their aspect and do something to ''their aspect. Calliope gives examples of this dichotomy with (Thieves steal to benefit themselves, Rogues are Robin Hoods), and (Princes destroy their aspect or use it to destroy things, Bards allow the aspect to be destroyed, or bring destruction through the aspect). The activeness or passiveness of a class is one of multiple factors related to whether a player is a Prospit or Derse dreamer. Calliope also explains that some of the classes tend to be assigned to males or females, some going as far as being exclusive to a certain gender. The passive/active system works on a scale with classes being more passive or active than others. With the exception of the master classes, no class' position on the scale has been revealed, though some hints have been given. When displayed on a scale, where each position is displayed as being 1 unit away from each other, current information is displayed as so: A few class mechanics have been explicitly explained, others only implied. and Rogue and Thief are a pair of classes, respectively passive and active, that are often assigned, but not exclusively, to female players. They deal with stealing and turning others' powers against them. While the active Thief will steal things to their own benefit, the passive Rogue will enhance their teammates, or their session with the stolen aspect and is described by Roxy as a "Robin Hood" of their aspect. Nepeta, as the Rogue of Heart, is presumably able to give or share her 'heart' with others, as she does ridiculous things for the people she loves. It might also be that she'd be able to give others love, as she dearly wants Karkat to return her feelings, and as The Disciple and The Signless were lovers as well, although all this is speculation. Vriska, as the Thief of Light, is able to steal luck from her allies or enemies, and make herself luckier. Roxy, as the Rogue of Void, is said to black-out her entire session in the future, presumably via sharing the black-out with her teammates. Roxy also "stole" pumpkins from around the world and shared them with her neighbors, fitting in with the "Rogue = Robin Hood" description. Meenah, as the Thief of Life, "stole" her friends' lives (by killing them) so they could continue to exist after the scratch. The idea of the black-out may or may not have anything to do with Rose going grimdark, which disrupted Trollian's viewport. Known Thieves are Vriska Serket, the Thief of Light; and Meenah Peixes, the Thief of Life. Known Rogues are Roxy Lalonde, the Rogue of Void; Nepeta Leijon, the Rogue of Heart; and Rufioh Nitram, the Rogue of Breath. Heir The exact powers of an Heir are unknown. John (the Heir of Breath), however, displays control over the Breeze (manifested as the Windy Thing). John was saved by the Breeze twice before he learned how to willingly use it, and Jack Noir was unable to pick up the source of his scent, as if the Breeze was protecting him. He was able to (presumably) manually save himself in a battle with Jack Noir by turning into wisps of wind and reforming behind him. Equius (as well as his ancestor) was given the ability to not be noticed, which can be seen as an effective form of protection. Equius used his fists as his main weapon, which can be interpreted as him using nothing (Void) to fight and defend himself with. Mituna Captor was also said to have lost his psychic powers (and possibly part of his sanity) while protecting his friends from an imminent disaster. Their placement on the passive–active scale is unknown; they may be the active (-) or passive (+) equivalent to any of the classes of Knight, Maid, Sylph, Witch, or Page. Known Heirs are John Egbert, the Heir of Breath; Equius Zahhak, the Heir of Void; and Mituna Captor, the Heir of Doom. Speculation Based on the powers of John and Equius (the Heir of Void), a Heir may be "one under the protection of their aspect", or "one who protects themself by using their aspect". The definition of Heir may also be "one who is consumed by their aspect", since Equius was surrounded by a void and Mituna could hear the screams of the imminently deceased. Another definition could also be "one who becomes their aspect" as John Another theory is that an Heir is 'one who is surrounded by aspect' or 'one who surrounds onesself with aspect'. John was surrounded by the Windy Thing, Equius was surrounded by a Void that protected him from Doc Scratch's omniscience, and Mituna was surrounded by the screams of the imminently deceased. That said, they could be the active (-) counterpart of Maid. This is strongly hinted at with the quote " " Both classes also seem to defend themselves using their aspect. Heir may also potentially be the male counterpart of Witch in both classes manipulating their aspect. Maid Based on the actions of Aradia (the Maid of Time) and Jane (the Maid of Life), one could surmise that the Maid class is defined as "countering/defending against an enemy's attack(s)". Aradia was able to freeze Jack, while Jane was able to heal herself after being stabbed. It is still unknown if Maid is a passive or active class. While the facts above point to active, it should be noted that Aradia was responsible for helping the other trolls defeat the Black King with her time travel abilities, and Jane stayed alive to help her teammates. An alternate theory is that the Maid class is a pun. Thus the Maid class is one that "provides itself with its aspect", which would make it the active (-) counterpart to the Page class which is speculated to "provides others with their aspect". This would mean that Aradia is literally made of time, and Jane is made of life, supported by the fact that Aradia froze Jack to give her time to escape and Jane gave herself life by healing after being injured. Alternatively it could be the Maid is one that "provides others with their aspect" as the mythology of Jane's planet has her providing life to the entire world, and the example for Aradia could go either way. This would mean that the Page class does something else, though. Maids may also be the active (-) counterpart to the Sylph class, as a healing/repairing pair. As Sylph appears to be a healer class, while Aradia used time travel to avert doomed timelines, in essence, "repairing the timeline", while Jane's planet has life which struggles to survive, suggesting Jane needs to repair or heal the life of her planet. Maid could also be the passive counterpart of the Heir class; if Heir is 'one who is surrounded by aspect', then Maid may be 'one who surrounds others with aspect' Aradia surrounding Jack Noir in a field of stopped Time supports this theory. Maids are speculated to be a female exclusive class. Known Maids are Jane Crocker, the Maid of Life; Aradia Megido, the Maid of Time; and Porrim Maryam, the Maid of Space. Page , the Page of Breath]] The powers of the Page class are currently unknown. The Page of Breath, Tavros Nitram, was shown exhaling with breath that resembled the Breath symbol when preparing to wake Vriska with a kiss. How this may tie into his class is unknown, although it could mean that a Page is "one who provides others with aspect". It can be speculated as the male equivalent of a Maid, and may be in an active–passive pairing with it. Speculation also points towards a pairing with the Knight class. Dirk (albeit the splintered version of Dirk that exists only within Jake's subconscious) that Pages have a lot of untapped potential and once they find this potential within them they are adept at using it. In Caliborn 's conversation with Jake, he reveals that if Jake realizes his powers as a Page of Hope, Jake might become powerful enough to defeat him, despite Caliborn being a Lord (one of the two master classes). This corroborates the idea that Pages are extremely powerful, once they realize their potential. This potential is also when Tavros and Aradia talk about how Tavros's Flarp class Boy-Skylark's " ". This could be referring to his role as a Page. Due to the relation in name, Pages are also speculated to be the active counterpart to a Knight, although it may be that page is meant more in the sense of "a blank sheet of paper", referring to the vast potential they have. It may be speculated, by virtue of the contextual relation of the words 'page' and 'knight', and by the Knight's abilities as explicitly displayed by Dave as the Knight of Time, that the Knight is the active "equip" class: one who wields one's aspect, while the Page may be the passive counterpart: one who equips others with one's aspect. This implies that as Dave is able to employ Time as a powerful weapon by virtue of his Time Tables; Tavros, as the Page of Breath, is able to equip others with breath, explaining the Breath symbol that appeared when he prepared to revive Vriska with his kiss. Pages might be a Male-exclusive class. Known Pages are Jake English, the Page of Hope; Tavros Nitram, the Page of Breath; and Horuss Zahhak, the Page of Void. Knight The Knight is a class assigned to both male and female players that has been as warriors that exploit their aspect as a weapon. It is unclear where they fall on the active/passive axis. Using their aspect to improve their own combat ability suggests that the Knight is active. On the other hand, both Knights have seemed to function primarily as defenders of their teammates, befitting a passive role. Dave has so far saved the lives of every single member of his team, resetting the timeline to save John and Jade, then later rescuing Rose from the Draconian Dignitary near the end of Act 5 Act 2. Karkat is less successful in the role despite his best efforts. He does, however, manage to defuse the , which would have doubtlessly killed one or more of his surviving friends. From this, and the traditional definition of the role of a knight, one could speculate that the Knight serves as a protector for other players in the session. Given these speculations, one could surmise that the definition of the Knight class is "one who manipulates their aspect as a weapon in order to protect others". The fact that the Heir class is most likely to be an active class, further supports the speculation of Knight being a passive class. The Page, as a young squire or assistant to a knight, is also speculated to be the passive counterpart to the active Knight. However, both perspectives are pure conjecture at this point. The Knight may also have something to do with breeding the Genesis Frog, since in two of the sessions so far, the Knight has assisted the Hero of Space in the breeding. It appears not to be a necessary part of the game however, as the cherubs' session has only players of the two master classes. Worth noting is the connection between the aspect of a session's Knight and a deficit of said aspect among the team. In the kids' session, Dave uses his abilities as a Hero of TIme to make up for the fact that they had an early reckoning, and in the post-scratch troll session Karkat attempts to rally his co-players together despite an enormous lack of unity (something which could conceivably be related to the Blood aspect). Known Knights are Dave Strider, the Knight of Time; Karkat Vantas, the Knight of Blood; and Latula Pyrope, the Knight of Mind. Seer The Seer is , assigned to both male and female players, that supports and coordinates their team members. According to Aradia, they understand their aspect comprehensively, which makes them quite prescient in respect to their aspect (i.e., Terezi knows all consequences of individual actions, Rose knows the "most fortuitous path", and what happens in it). also states that Seers will keep their party from making grave mistakes, as if they had a strategy guide for Sburb imprinted deep in their mind. Two of the Seers can hear the mental commands of the exiles . One of the Mages apparently Known Seers are Rose Lalonde, the Seer of Light; Terezi Pyrope, the Seer of Mind; and Kankri Vantas, the Seer of Blood. Speculation It could be surmised that the Seer class is defined as "one who benefits others with their knowledge pertaining to their aspect". As stated below, a Mage/Seer class pairing is strongly implied. Mage Based on the actions of Sollux (the Mage of Doom) one can surmise that the Mage class may be related to the Seer class, as it also has something to do with a "deep understanding of the aspect". It may also mean "benefits him/herself with knowledge pertaining to their aspect", though it should be noted that Sollux had concrete visions instead of just knowledge like Rose. It might also be the active counterpart to Seer, as a Seer leads through knowledge, while a Mage may lead through example (Rose instructing others with her Light knowledge versus Sollux actively leading the surviving trolls away from their Doom). The pairing is further alluded to by the fact that, in the Troll session, only the Seer and Mage are blind, and Sollux says that " }}" In addition, Mages, like Seers, seem to be However, this theory does have problems in that Mituna also saw a great doom ahead of time and promptly stopped it despite being the Heir of Doom rather then a Mage of Doom, leading to a possibility that mages aren't similar or paired with the Seer class at all and that those with the Doom aspect generally have some ability to foresee doom and calamity no matter which class they are assigned to. Mage may also be synonymous to "given protection from their aspect's ill effects", assuming that Doom has something to do with calamity and death (Sollux had multiple dream selves and being able to exit the dream bubble and only half died). Mages may also have something to do with "experiencing" one's aspect, due to Sollux dying multiple times and constantly hearing voices of the soon to be dead, and Meulin having "feels" in accordance to the Heart aspect. Another possibility is that the Mage class could be the passive (+) counterpart to the Witch class and can mean "one who manipulates with or through the use of aspect", or "one who is manipulated by aspect". This can be shown by how Meulin is being manipulated through Kurloz, her former matesprit which is a quadrant represented by a heart, and how Sollux was manipulated by the voices of the imminently deceased or the doomed. Sollux was also inevitably made the Sgrub game that ended his planet and inevitably a majority of the troll species and was thus, in a sense, a bringer of doom in that he basically orchestrated the doom of his planet and species albeit unwittingly as if subconsciously being manipulated by his aspect. The Mage class is assigned to both males and females. Known Mages are Sollux Captor, the Mage of Doom; and Meulin Leijon, the Mage of Heart. Sylph , the Sylph of Light]] The Sylph is a magic based class that is speculated to specialize in healing. As a Sylph of Light, Aranea healed primarily by helping people to see things, both figuratively and literally. In the figurative sense, she focused on helping people to heal from psychological wounds. In the literal sense, she offers to restore Terezi's eyesight for her. Known Sylphs are Kanaya Maryam, the Sylph of Space; and Aranea Serket, the Sylph of Light. Speculation All seen Sylphs have been female and it is speculated to be a female exclusive class. Sylphs can also be speculated to "share" their aspect with others, as Aranea went so far as to pay people 5 boonbucks to explain things to them. Its passive/active alignment is not known but considering the information given it could be speculated to be a passive (+) class, due to "helping others" or "healing others". Kanaya also that a Sylph is " ", meaning that it is possible that the Witch class could either be its active (-) counterpart or that the Sylph and Witch classes may have similar abilities. However, Witches are speculated to manipulate their aspects, while Sylphs heal, it is likely that she was simply misleading. Despite this, an offshoot Feferi is known to have healed WV, but this was likely due to her Life aspect. Maids are also speculated to be Sylphs' active (-) counterpart as a healer class, or as a "repairer". As Aradia as the Maid of Time used time travel to avert doomed timelines, thus "repairing" the timeline, and Jane as the Maid of Life healed herself using her powers. Witch The Witch is . Based on the actions of Jade Harley (the Witch of Space) and Feferi (the Witch of Life), the definition of the Witch class seems to be "one who manipulates x". Two facts to support this theory is that Jade shrunk the planets to escape the Scratch, while a doomed alternate-timeline Feferi healed WV in a dream bubble. The Witch class appears has powers consisting of expansion, extending and augmentation due to the fact that Jade, as a Witch of Space, can manipulate the sizes of objects and their velocity, as well as alternate timeline Feferi who was able to heal WV or possibly extend his lifespan. Known Witches are Jade Harley, the Witch of Space; Feferi Peixes, the Witch of Life; and Damara Megido, the Witch of Time. Speculation All seen Witches have been female and it is speculated to be a female exclusive class. The Witch class may also be related to "breaking the rules" of their aspect. Feferi was able to establish an afterlife through dream bubbles, therefore breaking the rules of Life. Jade displays powers that completely go against the laws of physics. This could make Witches the active (-) counterpart to Mages, as they are also speculated to twist or break the rules. While Witches manipulate their aspect, Heirs appear to be manipulated by their aspect and passively control their aspect. This could make Heirs the passive (+) counterpart to Witches. Witch could also be a pun. Witches might choose "which" of a portion of their aspect they want, such as Jade choosing which Space to occupy, including traveling to another session, and Feferi choosing which Life to lead. and , the Prince of Hope]] Bard and Prince are a pair of classes, respectively passive and active, that are exclusively male, that deal with destruction. The Prince, as the active, is literally simplified to "destroyer of aspect" or "one who destroys via aspect". Bards are somewhat stranger, in that they "allow destruction of aspect" or "invite destruction through aspect". The Bard is also quite the wildcard; unpredictable by nature and thus equally likely to help or hinder his party, often to great effect. In extreme cases they are either single-handedly responsible for their party's massive downfall, their improbable victory, or sometimes even both. The Prince's powers seem to include phenomenal offensive abilities, using their aspect to completely overwhelm other aspects or players. Eridan, as the Prince of Hope, killed or knocked out a lot of his teammates, including Sollux, who up to that point was one of the most powerful fighters in his session (second only to Gamzee, Vriska, and, possibly, Equius). He also destroyed the Matriorb, the trolls' hope for the survival of their race. While unconfirmed, evidence seems to indicate that the "white science" powers he used were actually his aspect, Hope, being used as an attack. If this is the case, then Princes may be able to channel their aspect into its physical form for destructive purposes. Dirk, the Prince of Heart, literally 'destroyed heart' as he killed the Hegemonic Brute (Hearts Boxcars). If the pre-scratch version of Dave's bro is any indication, Dirk is also an incredibly strong fighter. Gamzee, as the Bard of Rage, could enter some sort of berserk mode, causing deep fear in everyone around, and becoming exceptionally strong. When he did he was surrounded by a strange purple lightning which turned red later, and may have been Rage itself considering the purple colours of his God Tier robes. This suggests that Bards can use their aspect to improve their own abilities and possibly others. Later on he allows his Rage to be destroyed by Karkat, and sets a trap for Terezi that, by inspiring Rage against Vriska, invites her to commit destruction. He has been seen in God Tier clothing while in possession of Aradia's music box time machines, suggesting that like the jokerkind strife specibus can use other weapons, Bards can use their aspect to 'mimic' the powers of other aspects. This would be in keeping with the idea that Bards and Princes are an opposite pairing: the Prince overwhelms other aspects entirely, while the Bard exploits other aspects to strengthen their own aspect. The God Tier outfit for Princes seems to consist of pantaloons and a crown, much like an ordinary prince, despite the class's non-literal nature. It should be noted that, in a somewhat related circumstance, the God Tier outfit of the Bard class comes standard with a clown-like form better suiting a jester and MASSIVE codpiece, which is a highly likely reference to Bard Quest's Hull of the Flagship codpiece. Known Bards are Gamzee Makara, the Bard of Rage; and Cronus Ampora, the Bard of Hope. Known Princes are Dirk Strider, the Prince of Heart; Eridan Ampora, the Prince of Hope; and Kurloz Makara, the Prince of Rage. and Calliope has stated that these two classes (the so-called master classes) are significantly more powerful than the others, and that these are the classes she and Caliborn have. Her class, Muse, is female-exclusive and the most passive of all classes, while Caliborn's class, Lord, is male-exclusive and the most active. Presumably, these classes are paired. It could be speculated that these classes deal with interference in a cosmic level, with (who is Caliborn) destroying the dream bubbles and being the leader of (who are notorious for interfering with time) and Calliope inserting herself (or, at least, her trollsona) into real events. It could also be speculated that the muse class is based on the traditional role of a Muse, to inspire. The tale of Calliope's tragedy has inspired hundreds of souls to seek her soul out, or, at the very least, to seek a way to kill Caliborn. this also ties in with the Muse being the most passive class of all, as all Calliope has done to fulfil her role is die at her brother's hands. If Caliborn's is anything to go by, progressing as a Lord involves excruciating effort and a large amount of suffering. It is possible that these classes are "master classes" in the sense that they are "master copies", or guidelines for what defines active and passive classes. If this is true it's possible that, despite their immense power, Muses and Lords have no learning curve and upon realization of their powers would not be able to further improve their abilities, as a master copy always remains the same. Hero Mode templates Prince heromode.png|Prince Bard heromode.png|Bard Thief heromode.png|Thief Maid heromode.png|Maid Knight heromode.png|Knight Seer heromode.png|Seer Heir heromode.png|Heir Witch heromode.png|Witch Category:Homestuck concepts